Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova had a meeting on 4 March with the visiting delegation led by Andreas Minnich who heads the Austria-South Caucasus Friendship Group.

Telling the guests that she was pleased to welcome them to the Azerbaijani Parliament, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova described Azerbaijan and Austria as friendly states and partners, adding that the high-level mutual visits and constant political dialogue were important for further development of the bilateral relations.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova emphasised the importance of the links between our legislative bodies for the development of the bilateral relations and recalled with satisfaction her own official visit to Austria in June 2023 and the meetings held during it.

They then considered the options for close interaction between our legislatures’ friendship groups and co-operation between parliamentary committees.

The Speaker of the Milli Majlis was talking about the double standards that certain international organisations applied to Azerbaijan when she stressed that the people of Azerbaijan had spent 30 years waiting for their lands to be de-occupied peacefully. Until, that is, Azerbaijan reclaimed her own lands with her own resources in 2020.

It was with regret that the Head of the Milli Majlis spoke about the pressure that Azerbaijan had had to face on de-occupying her territories, and she described that pressure as a glaring manifestation of double standards. The Islamophobia and the Azerbaijanophobia are rampant in some organisations, according to Sahiba Gafarova.

Besides, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova criticised the refusal of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe to ratify the credentials of Azerbaijan’s Delegation to that entity. Such a move on the PACE’s part is a further example of double standards in action, Mrs Gafarova commented.

The conversation continued. Speaker Sahiba Gafarova informed her guest about the current state of affairs in the region, the Azerbaijan-Armenia peace process prospects and other matters that are momentous for normalisation of the relations and building an atmosphere of trust. She then mentioned the meeting of the President of Azerbaijan and Armenian PM in Munich last month, moderated by Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the subsequent peace treaty negotiations held by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the two countries. Sahiba Gafarova added that Azerbaijan continued her efforts to reach positive results.

The Head of the Austria-South Caucasus Friendship Group Andreas Minnich said his thanks for the hospitality before stating the objectives of the visit to Azerbaijan and telling of the meetings held during it – and pointing up those meetings’ significance for the progress of our inter-parliamentary connections.

The guest congratulated the Azerbaijani side on having been elected as a COP29 host. He also laid down his ideas about a continued promotion of the co-operation between our countries in several areas.

There was then an exchange of views upon other matters of shared interest.

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis